MSc

The study entitled “Refinement of macro-propagation technique for mass multiplication of aloe (Aloe vera Burm. f.)” was carried out during 2014-2016 in the department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Agriculture Vellayani, to standardize the stem disc method of macro propagation in aloe.The experiment was laid out in CRD with forty eight treatment combinations and three replications. The treatments included combinations of four pre-curing treatments, three segment size and four sprouting treatments.
Mature healthy aloe mother plants free from pests and diseases were subjected to various pre-curing treatments viz., in situ decapitation, partial crushing of internode, and foliar spraying of growth regulator (BA), one month before preparing stem segments. Stem segments having single, double and three nodes were prepared from both pre cured and non pre-cured mother plants. They were then subjected to three different sprouting treatments which include different combinations of growth regulators, BA, GA3 and IAA and treatment with honey. Control without any pre curing and sprouting treatment was also maintained.
From the comparison of different treatment combinations it was observed that better sprouting percentage (80.60%) was noticed in T9 {3 node disc cuttings treated with BA (1000 ppm) + GA3 (25 ppm)} taken from mother plants subjected to in situ decapitation (P1S3G1). The lowest sprouting percentage (27.72%) was seen in single node disc cuttings treated with honey and without pre-curing (P4S1G3) which was on par with three node cutting without pre curing and sprouting treatments (P4S3T4). Among the pre sprouting treatments, soaking the cuttings in growth regulators BA(1000ppm), GA3(25ppm), BA(2ppm)&IAA(2ppm) were found to enhance sprouting while honey treatment had practically no effect. Sprouting percentage was low in untreated cuttings also.
The treatment combination (P1S3G1) also recorded significantly superior morphological parameters of seedlings like plant height, number of leaves, leaf length, breadth, thickness and weight. Significantly superior fresh leaf yield (4.20kgplant-1) and latex yield (16.60gplant-1) was also registered by T9 (P1S3G1).
Growth analysis of seedlings carried out at different growth stages also revealed the superiority of T9. Significant improvement in gel yield was noticed for T9 [(P1S3G1- in situ decapitation+three node+ BA(1000ppm)& GA3(25ppm)]and T10 (P1S3G2).
Among the forty eight treatment combinations tried,T9 (P1S3G1- in situ decapitation+three node+ BA(1000ppm)& GA3(25ppm) was the best cost effective treatment with B:C ratio 1.6 for getting higher sprouting percentage, better seedling growth and higher yield characters.
By adopting the above pre curing and pre sprouting treatment (P1S3G1) within one year nearly 9 suckers can be produced from a single mother plant which is nearly three times higher than the conventional planting material. Hence this method of raising plantlets from aloe stem cuttings can be considered as a rapid method for mass multiplication.